Kanon tells the story of Yuichi Aizawa, a young man who has forgotten much of his childhood past.

It is based on a visual novel of the same name. There have been two anime adaptions made, done by different studios: one aired in 2002, the other in 2006. I will be talking about the 2006 version, but I’m sure the two are similar, since they are both based on the same thing.

Yuichi often visited the city where the story takes place during his childhood, but after seven years, many of those memories have been forgotten. As the story progresses, he gradually remembers more about what happened during those times.

There are five heroines, each with their own story arc. In the visual novel, the five were separate, but the anime weaves them all together into a continuous story.

Ayu Tsukimiya is a friend of Yuichi from way back during his childhood days in the city. She is a short girl, but very energetic, often pouncing on Yuichi without warning. She loves to eat taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake. Her catchphrase is ‘Uguu~’, which she mutters as an expression of frustration, anger, or fear. Yuichi loves to tease her about it.

Naiyuki Minase is Yuichi’s cousin, with whom he moves in with at the beginning of the story. A heavy sleeper, she collects dozens of alarm clocks that still fail to wake her up, and wake Yuichi instead. (Finally, somebody who’s even worse in the morning than I am!) She loves strawberry sundaes, but don’t mention her mom’s “special” jam. I don’t know what’s in it, but anyone unlucky enough to have some feels sick afterward.

Makoto Sawatari is a young girl who attacked Yuichi early in the story, but he was able to defeat her by simply holding his arm out. She has lost all her memories, and only remembers that she holds a grudge against Yuichi from his childhood days in the city. She has a mischievous personality, leading her to perform various pranks on Yuichi. However, he always manages to turn the pranks back on her, making her even more determined.

Shiori Misaka is a girl with a perpetual cold. Even though she’s always sick, she thinks nothing of waiting around outside the school in order to meet someone she knows. To make matters worse, she insists on eating ice cream. In the middle of winter. (Okay, so maybe I can understand that bit…)

Mai Kawasumi is my favorite character. You gotta love someone whose first appearance is at night, alone, in a dark school building, holding a sword. She takes it upon herself to fight demons that infest the school at night while it is deserted. Due to this, she is often blamed for accidents that happen at the school, and she never denies it. In fact, she never says much of anything at all. Yuichi considers it a triumph to get her to answer a yes-or-no question.